From Begur, we headed to L'Escala, where Catalunyans go when they go to the beach. L'Escala seems to be everything Begur isn't; right on the Mediterranean, big, flat, accessible, pocketbook friendly.
We came to L'Escala to visit the nearby archaeological site of Empuries. While Empuries lacks monumental remains, it does have a magnificent setting next to the sea, a dozen mostly geometric mosaics of varying size, above all, it had a Greek city and a Roman city next to each other. We have seen a number of lesser sites on this trip. I'm glad we saved the best for the last.
The view from the bus window on our way from Begure to L'Escala.
The Empuries Archaeological Site was a 3km walk north from our hotel in the northern part of L'Escala. We walked along the coastal path, then headed to Lidl to grab items for a picnic lunch.
Almost identical to our Lidl at home. ;-)
The ruins of the ancient Greek city, Emporium, are right on the coast. The highlights are The Asklepieion, a healing temple dedicated to Asclepius the Greek god of medicine, the Peristyle House, and the Agora.
First a view from the coastal path. You can spot the open space of the Agora going from left to right.
Empuries is very friendly to visitors; you can bring your picnic lunch inside and eat in the shade with a view of the water. Below is the view from our lunch bench.
One enters through a gate in the defensive walls.
The Asklepieion with a statue of Asclepius. A replica of the one found on site in 1909.
The Peristyle house.
The Agora.
A mosaic made by embedding pieces of stone into wet cement.
The remnants of the old port, now completely landlocked can be seen below the site museum. Look for the rocky shore that runs from bottom left to upper right.
The staue of Asclepius inside the site museum.
The Roman city is situated above the Greek city. Highlights are the thermal baths, roads, houses, mosaics, an impressive forum, and an amphitheatre. Here's a small mosaic recovered from a Roman Villa, now displayed at the site museum depicting Sacrifice of Iphigenia.
Thermal Baths.
Peristyle House.
Dolmus (House) of Mosaics.
House of Gardens.
A Crypto Portico with the Forum beyond.
A few shots of the Forum.
Sun-Ling walking from the Forum to a gate in the defensive wall.
John listening to the free audio guide.
The ruins of the Amphitheater. The abundance of nails found while excavating the amphitheatre indicate it was contruscted with wood.
Leaving Impuries we walked north to St Marti d’Empuries before heading back to L'Escala.
The harbor mole (breakwater) of Greek Empúries is still visble. Amazing!
There were a tremendous number of board sailors and kite sailors along the beaches to the north of St Marti.
After dark we headed out for a moonlight stroll along the water.
No comments:
Post a Comment